Starting QB Tim Boyle, Coach T.J. Weist Hope To Energize UConn

Not surprisingly — and it certainly appears to be necessary — UConn made the move to start true freshman Tim Boyle at quarterback.

Interim coach T.J. Weist officially announced in a release Tuesday that the 6-foot-4, 212-pound Boyle, a three-time state champion at Xavier-Middletown, would be the No.1 quarterback when the depth chart for the South Florida game is released Sunday.

"I'm excited for him," said Sean Marinan, his coach at Xavier High. "We have to remember he's an inexperienced freshman and he'll be learning. But I think he's very capable of doing the job."

Barring a setback in practice, which Boyle hasn't had the past few weeks, he'll be under center when the Huskies return to the field Oct. 12 for a noon home game against South Florida. Both teams will head into conference play 0-4.

Boyle, the staff says, is the best quarterback to lead the team. He takes over for junior Chandler Whitmer, who has thrown six interceptions on the heels of 16 in 2012, with an offense that's one of the worst in the country.

Sure, it was obviously time for a coaching change and Weist is replacing Paul Pasqualoni, who was fired Monday. One could argue the Huskies needed to go in another direction at quarterback long ago.

"We just feel like the production from our quarterback in the first four games hasn't been up to our standards in terms of leading the team, keeping drives alive, in terms of leading us to scores from a production and execution standpoint to a consistency standpoint," Weist said. "We think Tim has really worked up the depth chart from the minute he stepped out here and consistently has been effective."

Last season Boyle, who turns 19 Thursday, threw for nearly 2,500 yards and 24 touchdowns at Xavier and led the Falcons to the Class LL championship for the third straight season.

Whitmer, who started all last season (16 interceptions, nine touchdowns), threw at least one interception a game this year. He had an interception returned for a touchdown against Maryland and a back-breaking pick against Michigan that also led to a touchdown. Last week his fumble that led to a touchdown and yet another interception was returned for a TD in a 41-12 loss at Buffalo. UConn ranks 119th out of 123 FBS schools in total offense, 121st in sacks and 108th in scoring offense.

Weist said he has liked Boyle's presence, command of the offense, and command of what the Huskies are doing schematically.

"He's still a freshman and he's going to learn in game situations," Weist said. "But we think he's shown maturity on and off the field where he takes responsibility for what he's doing, has enough maturity to take responsibility for handling the offense and putting all of our plans and everything in his hands."

The Boyle move was made to energize an offense that could surely use it. Weist held his first practice Tuesday, so we'll see if it is a good match.

"I think the whole team agreed we were lacking a little bit of energy in the first four games," Boyle said. "I think Coach Weist brings that to the table with us. He brings a lot of energy, passion and spark to the team that we're going to need.

"He talks about when we make big plays we want guys getting up. The more big plays we make the more energized I think we're going to be. ... Coach Weist brings it and we're all excited about it."